The present invention relates to a salimeter, and more particularly to a salimeter for determining the salinity of saline solution through the measurement of the electric conductivity of the solution.
Based on the fact that the salinity of a saline solution is inseparably related to the electric (ionic) conductivity of the solution, one well-known type of salimeter is by means of measuring the electric conductivity of an objective solution. Salimeters of this type fundamentally consist of an exciting AC voltage source and a pair of electrodes. The pair of electrodes is either constituted in the form of a probe capable of being immersed directly in an objective solution or provided in a measuring cell into which the objective solution is to be sampled. The exciting AC voltage source supplies an AC voltage between the electrodes with the probe immersed in an objective solution or with the solution sampled into the cell. The conductivity of the solution is obtained, in principle, from the data of the voltage and current between the electrodes and of the geometry of the pair of electrodes. In practice, the apparatus is devised so as to give a resultant value of the conductivity and/or salinity of the solution according to a probe or cell constant reflecting the geometry of the pair of electrodes. However, the exciting AC voltage, which should be kept constant in principle, must be corrected against possible small variations in the probe/cell constants of individual probes or cells in use.
Such an inconvenience is improved, for example, with the conductivity measuring apparatus disclosed in the Japanese Utility Model Application No. 56-65478. This apparatus is characterized by being provided with a reference resistor for use in calibrating the apparatus, in advance, against the errors resulting from the possible cell-constant variations with respect to the cells to be used. The reference resistor is incorporated so that it may be substituted for the cell through a switch operation. The incorporation of the reference resistor in the apparatus makes an easy and precise calibration possible. Furthermore, the circuit constitution of the apparatus provides another advantage that, once the calibration is made with respect to a specific cell, the conductivity measurements with the cell are secured from the possible voltage variations expected to the exciting AC voltage source, since the exciting voltage can easily be corrected.
However, there are left some problems in applying the above-mentioned improved conductivity measuring apparatus to a salimeter under consideration, though it is also based on the same principle of conductivity measurement, since the above apparatus has been improved only to make it easy to correct the excitation voltage against the variation in the cell constant. Because the conductivity of a solution depends on temperature, a solution with a constant salinity shows different values of conductivity according to the temperature of the solution. In order to obtain a proper salinity at a predetermined standard temperature (of 25.degree. C.), therefore, it is necessary to provide a temperature sensor and an arithmetic means for correcting the measured conductivity in accordance with the temperature and conductivity temperature-coefficient of the solution. However, the addition of such correcting means to the above apparatus has effect also on the excitation voltage correction to be made by the adjustment of the reference resistor, causing the reference resistor to be useless at temperatures other than the standard temperature (25.degree. C.). A further disadvantage is that the standard solution must always be reserved.